Ageing Friendly Interfaces

As far as user interface design is concerned, there exists a host of international standards and guidelines that define good practice.
These tend to be formulated by government bodies or international organisations such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which defined accessibility guidelines to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities regardless of the user agent they are using (e.g., desktop browser, voice browser, mobile phone, automobile-based personal computer, etc.) or constraints they may be operating under (e.g., noisy surroundings, under- or over-illuminated rooms, in a hands-free environment, etc.).

Beyond the Guidelines

However, the most important finding from the desk and field research that FHV has carried out in preparation for ALADIN is that we have to look beyond the application of official guidelines and standards if we want to develop ageing-friendly user interfaces. Among the shortcomings that existing accessibility guidelines have, are:

• They are not widely known among Web designers and among clients who commission websites
• They are not easy to understand and implement
• They cover only a part of the usability problems encountered by users

• The use of automatic validation tools does not ensure the accessibility of the Web sites

  Usability for older adults

  Various attempts to define criteria for good usability design in accordance with the special needs of older adults have proved unsatisfactory or simply confirmed that users regardless their age agree on what constitutes good design, i.e. clear navigation, constant visibility of system status, emphasis on recognition rather than recall and aesthetic minimalist design.
  The last point implies the avoidance of ‘gimmicks’ such as animated graphics, which tend to distract from rather than enhance understanding.

  Recommendations

  From the preliminary results, the following recommendations can be derived in terms of usability design for ageing-friendly user interfaces:

  1. Conform to standards and general good practice for usability design
  2. Take into account changing levels of capability due to age

1. Apply design-for-all principles with a focus on older adults

   Besides, Web designers should be aware of certain impairments related to age, illness or other factors. As people grow older, their abilities change.

   Ageing-related declines relate to cognitive, physical and sensory functions. Attention span, hearing, vision, memory and reasoning capability all tend to degrade with age, but the rates at which these decline vary widely. In addition, any given individual’s capabilities vary in the short term due to a temporary decrease in, or loss of, function due to causes such as illness, blood sugar levels or state of mental activation.

   It is therefore essential that user interfaces incorporate features that can cope with the resulting impairments.

   Principles of visual and manipulative design

   The publications of Gregor, Newell & Zajicek (2002) and Hanson & Richards (2004) give a good overview of the principles of visual and manipulative design that have emerged as good practice to respond to the special needs of older users, such as:

   • Comprehension can be improved by using a standard format, keeping instructions simple, putting instruction into numbered list form, using an active rather than passive voice and avoiding negatives. It is also suggested that line lengths should not exceed 65 characters.
   • Older people tend to be vulnerable to multi-part instructions due to their demand on working memory. They also often forget to scroll or they find scrolling awkward.
   • Strong need for unambiguous text as older people are less inclined to explore alternatives to resolve ambiguity than can be expected in a young group.

     Design-for-all approach

     Following a design-for-all approach can greatly enhance the potential for commercial exploitation. In various discussions with Web designers, they also cited economic reasons for their reluctance to apply accessibility guidelines (unless they had to so because of official regulations) even though they might be familiar with them.

     Many felt that the return on investment for designing accessible Web sites was not obvious because the market was so restricted. They will be more inclined to make Web content accessible when it is in their economic interest to do so.

     A design-for-all approach that extends the group of potential beneficiaries to include anyone desiring a more usable Web experience, will make applying accessibility guidelines much more attractive.